Dear Representative Reed; We Love You!

February 14, 2017

Representative Tom Reed

U.S. Representative for New York’s 23rd Congressional District

Dear Representative Reed:

On this Valentine’s Day of love, we come to your Ithaca office to present you with some of the fruits of love and justice and to tell you that we love you. That love requires us to tell you the truth. We begin our words by acknowledging that here in Ithaca we live on stolen Cayuga land taken through a campaign of conquest and terror by the United States Government. Our nation is founded on a legacy of violence against indigenous people and people of color. President Trump’s rhetoric and policies perpetuate this same violence and our silence would mean consent.

President Trump’s policies do not come from or reflect love, they do not represent us your constituents, and they are deeply hurting all of us.

We ask that you support policies that embody faith and love of each human being, without exception.

Today, we ask you to:

1) Speak out against Trump’s unconstitutional executive order banning people and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, acknowledge US war-making as the driver of today’s refugee crisis, and vote against any legislation that would support such a ban;

2) Vote for the Protect American Families Act to prohibit the creation of an immigration-related registry program that classifies people on the basis of religion, race, age, gender, ethnicity, national origin, nationality, or citizenship;

3) Vote against any funding or authorization of Trump’s proposed border wall that scapegoats immigrants and refugees;

4) Oppose the detention and deportation of our undocumented friends, family, and community members;

5) Vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act;

6) Speak out and vote against construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, Keystone XL pipeline, and other destructive fossil fuel infrastructure.

Because so many of us have written and called you and received no meaningful response, we must insist that you speak to us about these issues now, that you listen to our response and that we have a back and forth direct communication with you.